Does Weed Cause Hair Loss?

Looking at the Connection Between Cannabis and Balding

Have you noticed more hair falling out in the shower? Or maybe there’s noticeable thinning at the crown of your head or your hairline. If you’re a weed smoker, events like these can leave you wondering about the effects that marijuana has on your hair.

So: does weed cause hair loss?

While there is research that hemp and some cannabinoids may benefit the hair, THC itself can disrupt the hair growth cycle and some evidence supports that it causes hair loss. If you are looking at the link between cannabis and balding, chances are you are a chronic smoker who is wondering what toll marijuana use is having on your life.

Keep reading to learn more about the connection between weed and hair loss, whether you should worry, and how to reach out to Catalina Behavioral Health if you believe marijuana use is negatively impacting your life.

Does Weed Contribute to Hair Loss? What to Consider

Marijuana is one of the most commonly used substances in the United States. While it is not considered as addictive as stimulants or opioids, it is still possible to become dependent on it.

Some people fall into patterns of using weed every day and smoking cannabis regularly does have the potential for negative effects, including hair thinning and hair loss.

This happens because of the way that cannabinoids like THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, interact with the endocannabinoid system of the body. Using cannabis affects the hair growth cycle, hair follicles, and nutrition.

However, the research on whether smoking marijuana can contribute to hair loss directly is inconclusive. Let’s look at ways that marijuana use might impact hair growth.

How Marijuana Affects Hair Follicles

Scientific evidence shows cigarette smoking breaks down important fibers in the hair follicles, affecting how well new, healthy hair can grow.

Cigarette smokers are also likely to experience premature hair graying according to the Indian Dermatology Online Journal. But what about smoking weed?

Marijuana affects human hair follicle growth because of the way active compounds interact with the endocannabinoid system. Endocannabinoids are present in the hair follicles. Smoking weed causes THC to bind to the hair follicle, interrupting your hair’s ability to grow.

Cannabis use also changes blood flow to the scalp. Without proper blood flow, the hair follicles are not stimulated enough to promote hair growth.

Contrasting this is research from the International Journal of Trichology. This study examined women with alopecia who used marijuana for mental health symptoms, reporting no effect on existing hair loss.

How Cannabis Disrupts Healthy Hair Growth

Marijuana has some medical benefits, evidenced by its growing use to treat nausea, pain, anxiety, eating disorders, and symptoms of cancer treatment. Unfortunately, smoking weed regularly can also be a contributing factor linked to hair loss.

There is anecdotal evidence suggesting marijuana causes telogen effluvium. This type of hair loss is caused by damage to hair shafts. Hair can become dry, brittle, and thin before it starts to slowly fall out.

Marijuana use also increases cortisol levels, despite people using it to relieve anxiety and stress. High levels of cortisol, the stress hormone cause hair follicles to enter the telogen phase of the hair growth cycle. Entering the resting phase too early disrupts the growth cycle and causes hair thinning.

Marijuana and Overall Nutritional Health

Chronic smokers often pay less attention to what they are putting in their bodies. Marijuana stimulates appetite, causing the munchies and making eating healthy far from a priority. Even though you do get full, there’s a chance you aren’t getting all the nutrients you need from food.

Certain nutritional deficiencies cause thinning and hair loss including riboflavin, folate, biotin, and Vitamin B12. Poor diet also contributes to hair breakage, dryness, thinning, and loss.

Outside of including all the food groups, eating a balanced diet, and choosing nutrient-dense foods when you get the munchies, incorporating a multivitamin can help you combat nutritional deficiencies.

Other Causes of Hair Loss to Consider

While smoking weed regularly can contribute to hair loss, there are numerous factors to consider. Genetics, hormone levels, medical conditions and treatments, hair loss conditions, and lifestyle choices all play a role.

Age, friction, stress levels, radiation therapy, scalp psoriasis, and fungal infections are other factors that may cause hair loss.

Genetics

The majority of people who experience hair loss lose their hair because of genetic conditions rather than regular cannabis use. Often, androgenetic alopecia is the root cause. This patterned hair loss begins after the hormonal changes associated with puberty.

Hormone Levels

The effects you feel following marijuana use come from the way that it interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system and hormone production. This is one of the reasons cannabis use has a negative impact on the female and male reproductive systems.

There are mixed results on how cannabis use affects hormones like estrogen and testosterone. However, hormonal imbalances are one of the most common causes of hair loss in men and women. Conditions including thyroid disease, androgenic alopecia, and menopause affect hormone levels and cause hair loss.

Medical Conditions and Medications

Several conditions have the potential to cause hair loss including those that affect hormone levels, like pregnancy and menopause, mental health conditions, or thyroid conditions. Overall health also affects how well hair grows.

Conditions like anemia, bulimia, Chron’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and those that cause loss of appetite also make it hard to get the necessary nutrients. This has adverse effects on hair growth.

Certain medications also affect your hair’s ability to grow. High doses of Vitamin A, calcium channel blockers, beta-blockers, antidepressants, and birth control pills cause an increased risk of hair loss.

Talk to your healthcare provider about alternative treatment options if you are worried about this side effect. Sometimes, changing medications can help hair grow.

Alopecia-Related Hair Loss

Many conditions including alopecia areata, frontal fibrosing alopecia, and alopecia universalis and totalis, result in hair falling out or thinning. Causes might include hormone changes, autoimmune disorders, genetic reasons, or unspecified hair loss.

Hair thinning and loss can be limited to the scalp, affect hair all over the body, fall out in patches, or thin progressively over time. Sometimes, it’s not known why people experience hair loss, and quitting weed may not slow or reverse hair loss, but it will certainly provide many other benefits.

Lifestyle Choices

Several factors affect hair loss. Tight hairstyles like extensions, braiding, and tight ponytails may cause traction alopecia, which is thinning hair caused by the hair shaft being pulled.

Bleaching, dyeing, and heating hair also damage the hair shaft, which may cause breakage and thinning over time. Using the right shampoos, conditioners, and styling products can improve hair health. Be sure to wait an adequate amount of time between treatments if you are experiencing hair loss from the way you style your hair.

For some people, significant hair loss takes a toll on confidence and self-esteem. Even if marijuana abuse or addiction isn’t the root cause of hair loss, cutting back can help your hair grow and reduce hair loss.

Hemp and CBD for Hair Loss Treatment

While marijuana might make it harder for hair to grow, hemp and cannabidiol (CBD) have beneficial oils and nutrients that might stimulate hair regrowth and improve hair health. However, it must be adjusted to treat hair loss.

High concentrations of CBD can have the opposite effect on hair growth. CBD to promote hair gain is also applied topically rather than being smoked or consumed orally.

There are also alternatives to promote healthy hair growth. It’s best to talk to a professional about the next steps to form a treatment plan to help hair grow.

Get Help Overcoming Daily Marijuana Use at Catalina

If you are experiencing hair loss and worried about if smoking weed is the cause, it may be time to start considering the impact of marijuana on your life. Do you spend a lot of time being high or thinking about the next time when you use marijuana? Has it become a daily habit instead of something done occasionally to relax or unwind?

Being dependent on cannabis isn’t considered as serious a problem as addiction to stimulants or opioids. However, it can be quite damaging for many of us, and cannabis use can still cause legal troubles, financial issues, and health problems.

If you need help quitting, reach out to Catalina Behavioral Health today. Many of our clients receive marijuana treatment in a convenient outpatient setting. We also offer dual diagnosis care, which is important if mental health conditions are at the root of your urge to smoke.

Give Catalina a confidential call and find out more about how we can help you today!

References

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6380979/
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36181341/
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12673073/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5660879/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673399/
6. https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1096/fj.06-7689com https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35300098/